20 Stunning Views From Latin America’s Jungles

Before you plan your itinerary, let these images inspire you to make time in your trip to savor the architecture, biodiversity, and incredible food that abound.

Diverse Landscapes

Latin American jungles have surprisingly diverse and inspiring terrain, like this primeval cloud forest near the summit of the Mombacho Volcano in Nicaragua.

Train Hopping

Unusual modes of transportation abound in the Latin American jungles. To get to the Cuero y Salado Nature Reserve on the North Coast of Honduras, for example, you need to travel 3 miles via a ‘coconut train,’ originally built to haul coconut products from United Fruit Company farms.

Lodge Design

Jungle lodges in Latin America are often stunning examples of sustainable tropical design. Morgan’s Rock in Southwestern Nicaragua, for example, features hardwood bungalows that blend into the natural environment, offering architectural beauty and a light footprint.

Frog-Watching

Latin America’s jungles are host to a diverse array of dazzling frog species. Seeing them up close and in person is to discover an aspect of fragile biodiversity. At Canopy Lodge in El Valle de Anton, Panama, I found this gorgeous glass frog croaking at the edge of a jungle creek.

Making Friends

Meeting and learning about how people live in different jungle environments is one the true joys of jungle travel. I met these three boys on a river island in the Rio Napo of Ecuador’s Amazon region. They had paddled from a local village to play on the uninhabited, sandy island for the day.

Orchids

The bizarre, delicate, often fragrant flowers of orchid plants adorn almost every jungle in Latin America. I found these tiny petals while walking in Pico Bonito National Park, Honduras.

Biodiversity

In this age of habitat loss, pollution, and changing climates, few concepts are as consequential as learning about the value of biodiversity. Visiting the jungles of Latin America allows you to discover the topic first-hand. I found this leaf-footed insect at Sacha Lodge, Ecuador.

Fresh Food

Some of the most delightful food in the world is prepared at small jungle lodges in Latin America. We were the sole guests at the small and secluded Al Natural Resort on Isla Bastimentos in the Bocas del Toro archipelago, Panama. Every day, the lodge manager procured fresh fish from local fishermen and a chef from a nearby village prepared delicious dishes with local ingredients.

Monkeys

Latin America is home to over 130 species of monkeys. Many of the diverse species are very unique, each specialized for a different habitat. I saw this Spix’s Night Monkey peering out of a tree in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

And Monkeyhoppers

Seeing a monkey in the jungle is a real treat, but look close-up and you might see something even more spectacular. Monkeyhoppers are a family of unusual and brightly colored grasshoppers. I saw this electric-colored monkeyhopper in Yasunì National Park, Ecuador (known as one of the most biologically diverse places on Earth).

Waterfalls

Out-of-this world waterfalls abound in Latin America’s jungles. A 5-hour trek from the Pico Bonito Lodge in Northern Honduras leads you to this gorgeous waterfall, surrounded by exotic ferns, mosses, orchids and butterflies.

Vibrant Colors

The brightest colors in the neotropics come in small packages. I found this brilliant Chestnut-breasted Coronet Hummingbird at Guango Lodge, a small lodge in the Andean jungle of Ecuador, which caters to hummingbird aficionados.

Canopies

Much of the action in the jungle takes place high up in the canopy. Sacha Lodge in Ecuador constructed a staircase and observation tower around a huge Kapok tree, where visitors get close-up views of toucans, orchids, and sweeping Amazon lowland landscapes.

Ingredients

So many ingredients of global cuisines originated in the Latin American tropics. To see them growing in their native environment gives newfound appreciation for that flavor. Peanuts, tomatoes, chocolate, vanilla, and chili peppers all come from Latin America. In the coastal San Blas jungle of Panama, I spotted this young pineapple, which was being tended by Kuna Indians among other shade-grown crops.

Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds exist only in the New World and the vast majority of the 338 species range throughout the Latin American jungles. Their spectacular iridescent plumages and amazing aerial displays are the very embodiment of the mysteries of neotropical jungles. I captured these two Sparkling Violetears at the Cabañas San Isidro Lodge in the Ecuadorian Andes region.

Dangerous Beauty

Mushrooms

Look closely at the forest floor and on the moist bases of old trees. Latin America’s jungles are host to brilliant shades of color and shape in the form of endless mushrooms. I found these tiny and delicate mushrooms in Yasunì National Park, Ecuador.

Hidden Treasures

Many of the best sightings in the jungle are trying to evade detection. I spotted this Common Potoo near Sacha Lodge in Ecuador. This nocturnal bird is adept at resembling a tree trunk, and is nearly invisible even in broad daylight.

If you walk into the jungle, you might see something that nobody else has. In the jungle near El Valle de Antón, Panama, for example, I spotted and photographed this electric blue and orange skipper butterfly. A neotropical lepidopterist later told me it was the first Creonpyge creon Lilliana she’d ever seen photographed in the wild.

Culture

Four hundred tiny San Blas Islands form an archipelago on Panama’s Caribbean coast where native Kuna Indians live in densely packed towns and fish from traditional sailboats, grow coconuts for Columbian candy manufacturers, and forage in coastal jungles nearby. This bright, unique culture is one of thousands to learn about throughout the jungles of Latin America.